The invention relates to improvements in apparatus for transporting or conveying containers in conduits in a stream of water or another hydraulic fluid. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus which can use a hydraulic fluid as a means for propelling containers through one or more conduits as well as a means for influencing the characteristics of the contents of containers.
Commonly owned European Pat. No. 0 139 780 discloses an apparatus wherein containers which contain foodstuffs and/or other commodities are sealed and admitted into a conduit to be conveyed by a stream of hydraulic fluid. The fluid can serve to heat the containers and their contents to a predetermined temperature which is necessary to sterilize the confined foodstuffs. The containers can constitute glass jars, cans or sealed envelopes consisting of metallic or plastic foil. As a rule, the configuration of the cross-sectional outline of the conduit will depend upon the selected shape of the containers which are to be conveyed therein.
A drawback of apparatus wherein the containers are admitted directly into the stream of hydraulic fluid in a conduit (e.g., in a pipeline of considerable length) is that the shreds of a single broken container which is made of glass or another brittle material are likely to clog the conduit and necessitate prolonged stoppages of the apparatus. A glass jar is likely to break because its material is defective or because it is subjected to excessive thermal shocks during rapid heating or cooling by the hydraulic fluid. Another drawback of the patented apparatus is that it is not sufficiently versatile, mainly because it can accept and convey only containers of a particular size and shape.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,511,168 to Pech discloses an apparatus for processing products (particularly baby foods) in containers (such as glass jars) which are confined in cartridges or cassettes. The cassettes are advanced by mechanical means along predetermined paths through a series of boilers. Each cassette is assembled of two parts one of which is slipped over the rear portion and the other of which is slipped over the front portion of a container. It is necessary to establish a pronounced frictional engagement between the two parts which surround a container; this ensures that a cassette does not open during advancement along its path through the boilers. The establishment of frictional engagement between the parts of each assembled cassette, and termination of such engagement for the purpose of removing a treated container, necessitates the exertion of a certain force and contributes to the length of intervals which are needed for manipulation of cassettes for the purposes of inserting and again for the purposes of removing containers therefrom. The parts of cassettes are made (at least partially) of a magnetic material to facilitate rapid automatic assembly around discrete containers in the form of glass jars or the like. Mechanical connections between the parts of the cassettes are not sufficiently reliable to permit introduction of assembled cassettes into a stream of hydraulic fluid. Opening of a cassette within a hydraulic conduit would enable a glass jar to escape into the conduit, and breakage of a single glass jar could entail prolonged clogging of the conduit and prolonged interruptions of operation of the entire apparatus as well as of all apparatus which deliver jars to or receive jars from the patented apparatus.
Published German patent application No. 2 149 122 of Wieser et al. discloses a sterilizing apparatus wherein containers for foodstuffs are confined in receptacles in the form of cassettes. The cassettes are transported in pipelines by streams of hydraulic fluid. The arrangement is such that a cassette which has been inserted into the pipeline remains closed to prevent accidental exposure and escape of the confined container. The patented apparatus permits the cassettes in the pipeline to gather into long trains of immediately adjacent cassettes. This prevents predictable and reliable advancement of cassettes and of their contents through various treating zones.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,927 to Sakamoto et al. discloses a capsule hydraulic transportation system wherein the capsules can be opened in a pipeline. The purpose of capsules is to transport batches of granular, pulverulent and like substances which are not confined in containers. The reference discloses that the capsules can carry projections which enable a counter to count the number of capsules advancing between two windows in the pipeline.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,638 to O'Neill discloses a pneumatic tube conveyor of the type used for transport of messages and the like. The patented apparatus is not designed to advance containers in the form of cartridges or cassettes in a stream of hydraulic fluid.
Published German patent application No. 33 07 902 of Bojak discloses a hydraulic or pneumatic system for the conveying of fragmentized materials such as coal or other minerals. The materials to be conveyed are compacted into balls, cylinders or like bodies (e.g., by resorting to an adhesive) which are thereupon introduced into the stream of a gaseous or hydraulic fluid for transport in a pipeline. The reference further discloses protuberances (shown in FIG. 4) which are provided for the purpose of preventing excessive wear upon the bodies of compressed or compacted granular or other fragmentized material. The bodies of compacted material are pushed through the pipeline.
Published German patent application No. 35 08 134 of Bolz discloses an insert which can be installed in a conduit to guide bodies which are conveyed by a hydraulic fluid. The guide or insert is actually an element of the pipeline.